- 19 hours ago
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal contract fears
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 20 Sept 2024 16:45 BST
- 4 min read
Lamine Yamal made his Barcelona debut while still aged 15 against Real Betis, but he would have made his debut for the first team sooner had the club not wanted to hide the special talent to stop him being stolen.
The 17-year-old scored his first Champions League goal on Thursday for Barca against Monaco with his already trademark move of gathering possession on the right before cutting inside and dispatching a low left-footed shot into the goal from the edge of the area.
Even in a 2-1 defeat, it was the type of moment that has made the teenager the hottest young footballer in the world.
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Current ETV
Lamine Yamal
F (R)
Barcelona
Lamine Yamal
F (R)
Barcelona
ETV Range
€62.3M - €103.9M
Barcelona actually had to stall previous head coach Xavi from throwing him into the senior team even soon because they did not want to risk their rivals knowing how special a player he is.
Jordi Cruyff, Barcelona’s former director of football, told MoviStar Plus: “I remember the first time he want to train, after five minutes Xavi looked at us and said: ‘This is special.’
“I remember we wanted to give him his debut a little earlier and we thought: ‘We don’t have a contract for the boy so we’re going to make sure that he’s first going to be ours for many years.’
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“The players, his veteran teammates, when he touched the ball for the first time, everyone had those eyes that said: ‘This is something very different, very difficult to find.’”
It was reported in the summer that PSG were willing to pay €250 million for Lamine, who has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €83.1m.
Yamal not the best yet
Although Lamine has already reached superstar status, Cruyff wants those around the club to stay patient with him.
“He is a star, but we are always a little afraid,” he added. “He is very young, we have to give him time, we have to accept his games, that sometimes he will have better and worse moments, sometimes he will make a wrong decision, although he almost never does - it is very strange for his age. But I quite agree that it is not good for anyone to try to classify him as the best right now.
“We all know that in terms of talent and for his age he is the best, but it is better to stay calm, keep your feet on the ground, be humble, let him keep working, because he is a player with extraordinary talent.”
Lamine’s next assignment will be to help Barcelona get back on track after defeat in Monaco by overcoming Villarreal in LaLiga on Sunday.
